I'll Prove It
by Ronnie T.C
Summary: This free-spirited, Flagstaff girl must prove that she's good enough to handle the CSI lab in Miami. Everyone underestimates her she has to prove that she belongs and that she can be professional. Then one person, Ryan Wolfe, breaks through and helps her.
1. Smiles

Florida was so… Hmm… "Sticky."

"Sticky? You mean humid?"

"You know what, Shay, humidity is stickiness. Every time I bend my arm it feels sticky. What is… Sticky."

"Leena, it's hot there." the woman on the phone whined.

"It's hot in Arizona, too." Leena laughed, wiping her forehead. She finally walked into the Miami-Dade crime lab for the first time. Its cool air greeted her, and she was thankful for it. She had spent the last two weeks sweating. She'd only been in Florida for that long, which had been spent moving into her new apartment in Mystic Pointe. It had been hard work moving all her things into the abode... Now to think of it, she didn't have many things yet. She had yet to shop for furniture or anything. She barely had food in her fridge.

She had gotten a one bedroom apartment there. It was the cheapest she could find for two-hundred thousand dollars. Her parents had agreed to help her out, money-wise, only for a while.

"Well, all I asked was how's the whether." Shay, Leena's best friend in Arizona, scoffed.

Leena sighed and looked around. She spotted what she wanted." Shay, I gotta go. I'm in the building now."

"Good luck."

"Like I'll need it." Leena stated and hung up. She walked over to the front desk and gave the woman a large smile.

"Can I help you?" The woman asked, and couldn't help herself but to beam back at the girl in front of her. Leena's smiles seemed contagious.

"Yes, I have a meeting with Horatio Caine."

"Alright. I think he's up in his office. I'll have him come down."

"Thanks you very much." Leena said, and went to sit down on a bench. Two men and a woman passed her. One of the men had light skin and light brown hair, and beautiful, big brown puppy eyes. The other had darker skin and smoldering black eyes, while the woman was blonde with green eyes. They looked at her as they passed, and got her smile as well.

"Who was that girl?" Calleigh asked as they walked away, still grinning.

"I liked her smile." Ryan shrugged, his smile also still on his face, "She looked happy."

"It's infectious." Eric noted. He was the same as his two friends.

"Hey, Horatio." Calleigh greeted the red head.

"Where you going, H?" Eric asked.

"I have a meeting. We'll be getting a new team member soon." he said and walked toward the young girl on the bench. "Hello, Lenmana Martinez?"

"Yes, that's me. But you should call me Leena, please." she jumped up and shook his hand, "It's great to meet you, sir."

"Call me Horatio, Leena." he said. He smiled at her as she smiled brightly back. "Come with me to my office."

"Okay." she said. He led them down the hallway to his office, and they sat down.

"So, you want a job here?"

"Yes, sir-Err, Horatio." she smiled and nodded.

"I called you previous crime lab in Phoenix, and the supervisor said you were a fast learner, an excellent worker. I think you will be a great asset to our team. I've looked at your résumé and I think that you could offer a new eye to the team. And we did have a meeting previously over the phone, which turned out to be your job interview. I enjoyed every bit of it."

"So, yes?" she asked.

"Yes. You have a job."

Her smile got wider than humanely possible. But it happened. "Thank you, thank you so much, Horatio! I promise, I won't let you down."

"Can you start tomorrow?"

"Of course." she nodded vigorously.

"Excellent. I'll see you bright and early tomorrow morning."

"I'll see you then." she said, and hurried out of his office. While she walked, she dialed her phone, "Shay, I got it!"

"I knew you would." her friend said, "Want me to tell your parents?"

"I'll call them. How's the reservation doing?"

"Your mom actually looks Hopi. It's insane."

"It's from being in the sun so much, huh? Well, not every single person who works there is Hopi." Leena shrugged, and walked out the doors.

"You were." Shay stated.

"I am not Hopi because I worked there. I literally worked there because I'm Hopi. My dad made me."

"Your dad is only half Hopi, though. I don't get it." Shay said as her friend on the other line got into her car.

"Do you see a Hispanic reservation in Flagstaff? I don't think so." Leena asked, annoyed. She had to explain this to Shay nearly very time.

"Well, I don't see a Chinese reservation for your mom, either." Shay always said that, too, when this was brought up.

"She's not Chinese. Korean, Japanese. Other. That's what she is, but not Chinese."

"Chinese, Asian, it's all the same."

"Tell mom and dad to send some art to me." Leena quickly changed the subject.

"Tell them yourself."

"Might I remind you they are still in the process of getting a phone."

"Oh yeah… Those hippies."

"Hippies?"

"All artsy and free-spirited and such. Against technology. And real hard work. Like you. You're all eccentric and all that. And arty."

"None of us are against hard work. My dad has four jobs. Mom is the manager of the reservation, where I worked for nine, ten years maybe."

"Whatever. The rest is true."

"They had no use or reason for a phone till now. They didn't have the money, either."

"Still don't." Shay said.

Leena sighed and fumbled with her keys. In the process, she dropped her phone. She yelled out to Shay, "Well, they wanna talk to me when I'm across the country."

Knowing that she dropped her phone, Shay yelled, "How come you couldn't stay in Phoenix?"

"Because this is a better job. Plus, Florida's beautiful."

"More beautiful than Arizona?"

"I grew up there, in Flagstaff. Phoenix is the city, and you can't see stars."

"Same with Miami!" Shay screamed just as Leena put the phone to her ear.

"Ow…" Leena muttered, then activated the speaker phone so she could drive. "The point is I'm free spirited, eccentric, rebellious if you wanna call it that, but I am also intelligent, workable… Uhh, I can follow orders, I can be professional, I can be-"

"Boring!" Shay interrupted, "You can be boring. But you can also be fun, then you go and move to Miami and you make me mad."

"Deal with it, Shay." Leena said, "It's like my new life here."

"You've got your old life here, in Arizona. Your artsy, free life. Your nice life, with the mountains and the valleys. Think, Painted Desert, Juniper Mountains, Grand Canyon."

"All wonderful. I'm exploring new things, like the oceans and such here. I'll send my paintings of the sea to you. My apartment overlooks the water. I have done some sketched already. You'll love them."

"I'm sure I will… But I won't admit it." Shay laughed. Leena did, too.

"Hey, I'm driving and I gotta go."

"Bye."

"I'll call you later. Bye." Leena said, and hung up. When she got home, she looked at all her artwork hanging on the walls. The many pictures were the only things that made her house, her home. She had grown up in Flagstaff, Arizona in a cultural, free spirited (loosely Catholic) household. She had several brothers and a sister, and they were all raised to appreciate art and dancing. They did Indian traditions with their father. They excelled in art. They were all free spirits. They would be called rebellious by someone who didn't understand. Their family encouraged partying and mellowness.

Leena's mother taught her about Korean and Japanese art. Leena could do very detailed things. She drew many animals with paint. Big brushstrokes made beautiful pictures. Her father, on the other hand, taught her to make a different kind of artwork. He taught her how to make adobe pottery and paint it. He taught her to make jewelry. And how to paint bright pictures of nature. How to make traditional Hopi Indian art and Hispanic art. It was a mix of bright colors and wonderful scenes. It was incredible.

Leena went to bed that night extremely anxious for her job on the morning. But for the first time since she got there, she got decent sleep. For the first time, she wasn't homesick.


	2. First Day

"I don't know what to wear… And Shay, let me tell you, I'm freaking out!" Leena said. She looked at the screen that showed the picture of her friend. They were talking over the computer cameras.

"You realize it's four thirty in the morning here, no?" Shay said groggily.

"Well, you're at work. You pulled an all-nighter there, huh?"

"Yeah… Jacob says hi."

"Put Jacob on the screen."

"Jacob, come here!" Shay beckoned lazily. She waved her arm and then a black haired man showed up.

"Hey, Leena. I love what you're wearing." he smiled. She was clad in nothing but a towel on her body. She'd only just showered. However, her hair was done.

"Thanks." she rolled her eyes.

"Come back." was all he said before he left the screen.

"Yeah!" Shay agreed.

"Shay, what should I wear?"

"Okay, okay, okay." she straightened up, "A suit."

"Duh. I have several on my bed," Leena lifted her laptop to have the camera show them, "See."

"That's not a bed. That's a mattress."

"Which one?"

"The middle one. I like it."

"Would that be the middle one on the left or the right, Shay?"

"The one with the red blouse, okay!" she finally exclaimed, exhausted, "I'm hanging up now."

"It's not a phone." Leena said. Shay didn't answer, but disappeared from the screen. Leena laughed and shut her computer off. She dressed in a simple white, silky blouse, not following Shay's advice, and a black pantsuit. She buttoned two of the blazer's buttons, only two, and went to her kitchen. She ate a granola bar then got on her way. She felt so right, but so not… It was like she was out of her own skin.

She walked into the lab and suddenly asked herself 'What am I doing?' She was supposed to be a free spirit. Making money with her artwork. Working in Flagstaff at the Hopi reservation. And then she went to college. And to Iowa. And to Phoenix to work. Then to Miami to work more, and now she was professional. And she knew she was.

"Hi, you must be the new member of our team." a woman snapped her out of her thoughts.

"Oh, yes," Leena nodded.

"Lenmana Martinez?"

"Leena." she corrected, "Please, I beg you, call me Leena."

"I'm Calleigh Duquesne." sh introduced herself, "Welcome."

"Thank you, so much."

"Let me introduce you to the rest of the team, if I can find them. Probably in the break room." Calleigh led Leena to a room, and sure enough, there they were. "Alright, so here's Walter Simmons, Natalia Boa Vista, Eric Delko and Ryan Wolfe. You've met Horatio already though, right?"

"I have." Leena nodded.

"This is Leena Martinez, everyone."

"Nice to meet you." she said to everyone, aside from Horatio, and shook their hands.

"Where you from?" Eric asked as she got her coffee.

"Arizona. Flagstaff." she said, adding eight spoons of sugar to it.

"Seems like you like your coffee sweet." Ryan chuckled.

"Yeah," Leena smiled, "Maybe that's why I always have a headache. Oh well, whatever works, really."

"Here's your gun and badge, by the way." Horatio said. He handed her a gleaming badge and a holstered gun. Leena smiles at them both widely.

"Oh yeah!" she whispers to herself, them puts them on her person.

"So Flagstaff." Eric asks, "What'd you do in Flagstaff?"

"I worked with my mom on the Hopi reservation there."

"Your mom's Hopi?" Calleigh asked.

"She could be. But no, she's Asian. My dad's Hopi. And Hispanic."

Horatio's phone rang and he stepped out of the room.

"So how about you guys?" Leena asked, "What are you like?"

"These three here are annoying." Natalia pointed to Walter, Eric and Ryan.

Leena smiled widely, which made everyone else smile as well. "I love it! You guys are like a family!"

"We are." Calleigh nodded. Horatio walked back in, his face grim.

"We have three cases. Miami Beach, Portofino Tower. Wolfe, you take Martinez and take Tripp, too. Homicide." Horatio handed them a paper, "Calleigh, Natalia, you're at Villa Jasmine with me, double homicide. Walter, Eric, you go investigate a kidnapping at 1400 Bounty Drive. Alright, let's move out."

Leena went with Ryan to the Hummer after grabbing a kit. She sighed, "It's a sad day."

"You get used to it." he shrugged, "So you got like a sugar addiction there? It's kind of… kiddish."

"I can't help it." it was her turn to shrug.

"How old are you?"

"Twenty-five."

"Wow, very young."

"Well when'd you start?"

"I had been in the police force first. I was older than you. Old enough to handle it."

"I can handle this job well, too!" Leena argued.

"Mm-hmm." he dismissed the statement.

"You don't believe me?"

"I think you're too young for it. You can't handle the sights we see. You can't handle the distress."

"I've been handling it for a year." Leena raised her eyebrows, "Miami's different? From what I've heard, it's worse in Phoenix."

"Well, some time you'll break down because it's so terrifying."

"Have you?" He didn't answer, and she knew the it, "Mm-hmm. Are me and you different?"

"In fact, yes. Girls handle things not as well as boys. They're more emotional." he said matter-of-factly.

"Is that so?" she asked. He nodded. Leena continued, "Well I guess I'll have to prove to you that I can handle the job."

They drove in silence the rest of the way. Once they got to Portofino, they went up to the fifth floor, where the homicide was, and went in.

"Just think," Leena said, "I was gonna live in this building. Then I found a better place."

"Good thing, huh?" Ryan mused, looking at the bloody sight before him. "Sad."

"You got that right." Leena said. She got to work immediately. Ryan didn't, he sat and stared at the dead woman. She was lying on the kitchen floor with a knife stuck in her throat. There were multiple stab wounds all over her body and she was drenched in blood.

"When's the ME gonna get here to assess the body?" Leena asked.

"Soon. He's got two other bodies."

"Yeah, the double at Villa Jasmine. It should be soon. It's only three minutes away."

"Hey, you two." Tom said from the doorway, "I decided to come here first."

"Alright, so stabs to the throat and body, lacerations ranging from deep to shallow in the skin, bruising around the wrists and neck, eyes are blood shot, lips are blue. There's blood in and around her mouth. Unknown cause of death so far." Leena said, pointing everything out.

"I'll take her to the morgue, do an autopsy. We'll find out soon enough. Could be suffocation, strangulation, poison."

"Obviously all of those have happened. Can you get a time of death?" Leena asked as she and Ryan got to investigating the apartment.

"She's cold. Roughly thirty-six hours ago."

"Has rigor mortis set in?"

"Maybe you should get to looking for things instead of asking about medical stuff." Ryan suggested.

"I'm only asking. I took an entire year of anatomy in college." she smiled, not letting that bring her down.

"I like her curiosity." Tom said.

"At least someone does."

"What's the ID of the victim?" Ryan asked.

"Can't find one yet."

"Hey, here's something!" she said, looking at a white, frothy footprint on the ground.

"What is it?"

"I think it's cactus soap. Look at the nice, long, green fibers in there."

"Take samples and we'll see if you're right."

"Okay." she said, ignoring his real meaning: that she'd be wrong. She wouldn't be wrong. She'd be right. And Leena knew it, too.

Soon Tom left and Ryan said, "Should we do a black light test for fingerprints and things?"

"Sure. I'll get the lights." Leena said, reaching her gloved hand out to turn them off. They turned on their ultraviolet lights and looked around.

"I've got nothing." Ryan said.

"I don't either." Leena sighed. Ryan went over there and proceeded to check every place she just had. "Thanks for second guessing me. Now tell me, did you find anything? Hmm?"

"No." he muttered, "I was only checking."

"Checking." she scoffed. He let it slide for now as she turned off the lights.

"I think we're done here. All we found was that footprint. We'll probably find more on the body."

"Hope so." Leena said, packing her things.

XXX

When they got to the lab, Horatio came up to them. "Did you find anything at the scene?"

"Leena found a footprint. That's all either of us found." Ryan said. Leena internally smiled. His tone was somewhat… Proud.

"Good. Tom wants you both in the morgue now."

"Okay." Leena said and the two left. "What's going on, Tom?"

"Cause of death, asphyxiation. That is what caused the blueness in the lips. When she stopped breathing, they stabbed her multiple times. And that's it."

"Alright… So have you found any internal damage?" Ryan asked.

"No organs were damaged by the stabs. Her stomach contents showed up as nothing. The knife is going up to be processed."

"Further damage?" He asked.

"Lacerations were caused by the knife, only. The bruises were from restraints."

"Any evidence on her body?" Leena questioned.

"No fingerprints, no DNA, nothing in her nails because she was restrained. You know how most people cut themselves or leave DNA when they stab someone? This person did not. She's completely clean. However, she did have green fibers stuck to her shirt and some white liquid around the fibers. I sent it to trace."

"I bet its cactus soap." Leena coughed.

"Could be anything." Ryan said. He smiled though, when Leena gave him a teasing smirk. Tom smiled to, to himself. "Contagious." Ryan simply stated.

"My smile?" Leena asked, "I've heard that before. I make everyone around me smile."

"Time of death was roughly Tuesday night, ten o'clock. Other than that, nothing to report."

"Let's go get looking into the victim's history."

"That'll be hard without an ID." Tom said.

"Tell me she's not Jane Doe." Leena begged.

"No, you just never found out the ID."

"Let's see here." Ryan said, his gloved hand around her leather wallet. "Darlene Trujillo."

"Well, let's get going." Leena said.

"By the way, her friend is coming in to be questioned in a bit. She's the one who found the body."

"Okay."

"You just stay in the lab and search. I'll question her and give you the names I find."

"I wanna question her too, though!" Leena whined.

"Just stay here. It's your first case in Miami. Just stay put."

"No fair."

XXX

"Martinez!" she heard. She turned and saw Valera running to her with test results.

"Hey, Valera."

"Here's both trace results. The one from the shirt and the one from the footprint. Also the fibers from both. They all match."

"What is it?"

"Cactus soap. Yucca."

"I knew it! Haha, Ryan, in your face!" Leena gloated.

"He's not here. But you can 'in-your-face' him on the phone."

"Not as fun, but it'll do." Leena smiled and shrugged. Valera left and Leena called Ryan.

"Martinez, what do you want?"

"The fibers and white liquid. It's yucca cactus soap. Told you so."

"Yeah, yeah… So, any ideas on how this ties in?"

Leena thought for a moment, but was stumped. "No. Florida is not the yucca's native range. Arizona is."

"Maybe the killer made soap from yuccas…"

"Beats me… I'll loom over it though."

"Its fine, I'll just handle that."

"No, I can do it."

"Leena, it's fine. I'll handle it." he said angrily. Leena didn't respond. "Alright, so, bye." Ryan said and hung up.

XXX

Over the next few hours, Ryan would call Leena multiple times and hour to give her names. Leena would call back on what she'd found, and give him new names. He didn't even see her in person. He didn't visit her in the computer room. He only spoke over the phone. Yes, they would talk a lot about the case over the phone. They would talk about the suspects and whether they had a correct alibi, whether they were the suspects. By the end of the day, they had rounded it down to three suspects. The boyfriend (Adam Carnodia), the jealous ex-friend (Tricia Laurence) and a rival coworker (Tina Montgomery). They were going to interrogate them all today.

"So, can I be in on these interrogations?" Leena asked over the phone. Ryan was driving back to the lab and discussing the game plan with Leena on the phone.

"No." he said, "You can't handle it."

Leena pursed her lips, "How come?"

"You're too young and eccentric. Too much of a free spirit. You are not mature enough."

"Let me be behind the mirror on the first. Then if I can handle that, can I be in on the second?"

"No. But if you want, you can look through the mirror at all of them."

"I want to actually ask some questions."

"I'm just trying to help you learn about it first."

"I can't learn if I don't do!" Leena snapped.

"Problem, Ms. Martinez?" Horatio asked from the doorway.

"No, Horatio. Thanks for asking." Leena smiled. Horatio walked off. It seemed that Ryan had heard.

"How come you didn't tell him that I wasn't letting you do anything?" he asked, a taunting tone to his voice.

"We have this thing up in Flagstaff. Snitches get stitches. Snitches are bitches. You get the gist of it?"

"It's not really snitching."

"You'll break eventually."

"I won't."

"I wasn't saying today. Thanks for nothing, though, Ryan." Leena said, and hung up. Yes, that rule may be a little childish and old fashioned… Old school? It's from the bad days… Or the good days, she didn't know which.

Leena got up and went to the break room. She saw Eric and Calleigh there, but didn't acknowledge them. She went to the coffee pot and poured herself a hot cup. It was three in the afternoon, but anything would work. She didn't put any sugar in it. She sat down and took a sip, then grimaced. "Eww."

"Needs sugar?" Eric asked, a smirk on his lips.

Leena laughed, "Yeah. I like sugar in my coffee. Lots of it. And vanilla creamer, but I don't carry the bottle around in my purse anymore."

"Anymore?" Calleigh laughed, "Nice."

"Martinez!" she heard behind her. She turned to see Ryan in the doorway. "Come watch the interrogations."

Leena nodded, "Okay."

"Have fun on your first interrogation." Eric said.

"You realize I've done this before? In Phoenix." Leena laughed and walked out. "So, Ryan. Are you letting me in?"

"Yes. But you are not to say a word."

"Unfair, but good enough." Leena shrugged. They went in there and Ryan offered the seat across from the suspect to her. Leena graciously took it, and looked at the boyfriend.

Ryan bent down and said in Leena's ear, "Don't talk. At all."

Leena stayed quiet for all the interrogations. She asked for the peoples' shoes each time, and the first two checked clean. The third, Tricia Laurence, had a white residue on it.

"It's yucca cactus soap." Leena said, "She also works at a bath products store."

"Yeah…" Tricia muttered.

"How come you and Darlene aren't friends anymore?" Ryan asked.

"We… Had a fight about this guy I was dating. Then recently we got engaged and I told her. I don't know why, we haven't been in contact for so long. I told her at her house and she went ballistic. We got in a physical fight, then I left."

"Did you leave?" Leena asked. She had a face that Ryan had never seen before. It wasn't warm and full of laughter. It was cold, serious. Her eyes were boring into Tricia's. "Or did you do something else before?"

"I-I" Tricia stuttered, tears running down her cheeks. They wet her lips.

Leena slammed her fist down, "What happened, Tricia?"

"I-I don't know what happened! All of a sudden, she was just on the floor b-beneath me! And she wasn't breathing! And… She was b-bleeding! And a pillow, a pillow was over her head, and I don't know how! I just… I don't!" Tricia shrieked, horrified, "I killed… I killed my best friend… I killed her…"

Ryan and Leena said nothing as the officer arrested the sobbing woman. They sat in silence for several more minutes, then Leena got up.

"You did a good job today, Martinez." Ryan said, "But you can't follow directions."

"People always focus on the negative." Leena said as they walked out together, "My mom always said to focus on the positive. I cracked a case."

"Wanna go out for drinks? To celebrate?"

"No. I don't drink anymore." Leena shook her head, "Plus I'm going furniture shopping."

"Alright. I'll see you tomorrow."

XXX

"It was alright, Shay. But my teammate is an asshole." Leena said on the phone with Shay that night. She had gotten her furniture and it would be delivered the next day.

"How so?"

"He doesn't think I can handle it. And he looks like a sweetie pie, so I'm sure no one else thinks I can do it either."

"don't let it bring you down. Positive: You put someone in jail."

Leena laughed, "Yeah! Also, he won't let me do anything. Like go into the field or interrogate people."

"Interrogating is the fun part!" Shay exclaimed.

"Right? But hey, I cracked a case… I told him what some trace was, and I was right about it. I pretty much did all the hard work myself, finding things out about everyone."

"Positive."

"Positive."

**I don't wanna say this, but sorry this chapter is so long. Also about all the case stuff in here. I don't know the rules for that. Some don't like a lot, some do. Oh well. I'll figure it out later. I just wanted to show her trying to prove herself on hr first day. R&R please!**


	3. Friends

"Because I'm just as good as you, but better, since I'm a girl." Leena said. She and Ryan were walking down a hall a month later, arguing. They had developed a sort of rivalry-friendship, while everyone else had gotten colder. They also didn't think she could handle it. She thought she was too young and too inexperience. They thought she was too much of a teenager, though she was twenty-five. Ryan and she had been partners since day one, and he had found that she can indeed handle herself. She's cracked more cases than he had in his first month. She was a good CSI.

Ryan and Leena had even hung out a little outside of work. They would go to lunch together on days off-and on. They would hang out at ach others' houses. Ryan helped Leena pick different furniture and set it out. He was like her interior designer. And her chef. He would cook her dinner or anything, and they'd have friendly dinners. Nothing intimate had gone on, just friendliness. At work their were still rivals. He still didn't let her do much. She'd gotten used to it. The days she had to work with someone else, they were much colder than Ryan had ever been towards her. She had to prove herself, and did each day. But they all denied it.

"So, I never found out what you specialize in. No cases have ever come up with us so you could have the opportunity."

"I specialize in toxicology and culture."

"Culture?"

"Like Hispanic, Greek, Egyptian, all those. I know their traditions, foods, and artwork. Mainly artwork, since I'm a fanatic."

"Talk to Walter about that."

"Walter doesn't like me too much. He's siding with everyone else and doesn't think I'm good enough."

"I think you are."

"Aww. You're like, turning into a big sap." she smiled.

"They only don't like you because they're jealous."

"Oh, when'd you get here, Mom?"

"Very funny."

"I know. I also specialize in humor."

"Flirting, you mean?"

"You're the one who's all making me feel better. I appreciate you, sometimes." Leena says, looking up.

"So, your family."

"My family… Is so completely Hopi Indian, no one can stand it. Even my mom and she's Japanese. And my dad's only half. And they both look fully Hopi Indian. And I look exactly like the both of them. I got the narrowish facial features from my dad's Hopi side. I got my mom's skin tone, but darkened cause of my dad's Hispanic side. I got my mom's eyes. I got her hair, it's all thin and black and lanky and straight, and goes to like, my chest." she held up a strand of her hair. It was free most days, but she put it up in the lab. "Like my mom's."

"What else? How many brothers and sisters? In-laws, nieces, nephews, ridiculous grandfathers?"

"I've got a younger sister and an older brother and a younger. I got a sister-in-law and a sleazy uncle."

"Sleazy? What's his profession? Pimping?"

"He's a lawyer." Leena shrugged.

"Oh. Fair enough. So, you're a fanatic of art?"

"I love art. And music. And dancing. MY parents taught me all their cultural Asian and Hispanic and Hopi artwork and their dances and traditional music. And, what can I say? It's amazing!" Leena giggled. Ryan smiled. Her laughs and smiles still had an effect on him. They didn't on any of the other team members. Ryan would smile just thinking about her mouth and the sounds that emitted from it. _Wow, did that sound dirty…_

"So you're like…"

"Free spirits. I've used that for myself and my family before."

"Sounds good." he smiled. She looked at him expectantly. "What, Leena?"

"Your family hello! Are they like… Bureaucrats? They are, huh? Or like, socialites? Or even better, your mom is a debutant!"

"How come you wear such high heels?" he pointed to her shoes.

"So that's it, huh? And your dad's, what, a CIA agent? But wait… You can't say, huh?"

"What if I said he was a construction worker."

"Oh my God, he is a CIA agent! I won't tell anyone, I swear!" Leena exclaimed. Ryan chuckled. Leena glared at him and paused her franticness, "Well then what are they if not debs and CIA agents?"

"My dad's a CEO of some real big company."

"What, Johnson and Johnson?"

"No. And my mom doesn't work. Yes, she is a deb. They're rich and such, because my dad is so high on the business scale."

"So did he like, make, Johnson and Johnson?"

"It's not that company!"

"Well you don't have to yell."

"You didn't answer my question."

"You haven't completely answered mine. And I asked first. So, tell me, did they neglect you?"

"Not particularly. They were alright parents."

"Siblings?"

"None."

"Only child, eh?"

"I kinda just said that."

Leena rolled her eyes, "So how about you? What's your personality like."

"You hang out with me enough… Shouldn't you know?" Ryan grumbled.

"Just answer, please."

"Well, I'm a perfectionist. I have OCD so everything needs to be clean and nice an perfect."

"And you can't handle kids because they're all sticky and dirty and stuff, huh?"

"You got that right." he smiled, "No, they're alright. So, your heels."

"Why so interested? Want 'em? They are Dolce and Gabbana closed toe slip-ons. I paid four hundred and twenty-five dollars for them."

"Why the hell would you pay so much for shoes?"

"Cause they're nice shoes." she rolled her eyes.

"So, you doing anything tonight?" Ryan asked.

"Yeah. My friend is going to criticize me over the web camera about my painting skills." Leena laughed. Ryan looked confused.

"What?"

"Well my friend back in Arizona, Shay. I've told you about her. I'll be painting my house, and she'll be over the web camera criticizing my mural. It's her thing."

"Well I could come over, help out."

"Alright. I gotta do a white base cover first before I start painting anyways. You can help with that."

"I'd be glad to."

"Thanks, Ryan." Leena smiled. Then her phone rang, and so did Ryan's. They looked at the message on both of their screens. "Get your kit. Homicide at West Palm."

XXX

They arrived there at the same time as most of the others. There was a girl lying in the sand. She was incredibly pale. There were bruises and lacerations all over her body. She was covered head to toe in blood. Hr hair was knotted and damp. She looked like hell.

"Blood bath." Leena said sadly. She raised the camera and took a picture of her for evidence.

"This is such a contradiction." Tom muttered, "We can clearly see the cause of death… But we don't know what killed her."

"Yet." Leena said, "Sure, right off the bat, it's a mystery. Then you do the autopsy and its right there."

Leena's only true friends at the lab were Tom (even if he was in the morgue, not the lab), Horatio and Ryan. She didn't know why no one liked her.

"Martinez. Come look what we've got over here." Eric demanded. Leena went over and Eric explained, "We didn't find an ID on the victim. We didn't find anything. Now here's this."

Leena took the plastic card from him and looked at it, "It's a fake ID."

"Yeah. It's her fake ID. With her picture and everything, but we're not sure if Melinda Reese is her real name."

"How do you know it's fake?" Leena asked, taking it from him. Then she realized, "Ohh, the holographic image. Yeah, this is fake."

"That, and she doesn't look close to twenty five."

"I can only tell because of the holographic images on real ones. Fakes are all… Not holographic." Leena laughed, "I learned how to read them back in Arizona. I can figure out who this was made by, and then I'll check them out."

"You do that. Good luck." Eric muttered, and got back to working. I went to the hummer and looked at the ID, front and back.

"Are you, are you one of the officers on my sister's case?" I heard. I turned to see a teenager who looked exactly like 'Melinda'.

"Yes, I am. This is your sister?"

"My twin. My name is Addison Lucero. That's my sister, Allison." she pointed to the dead body, "Is that her ID?"

"It's her fake ID. Do you know where she might have gotten it from?"

"Yeah. I know."

"Where from?"

"One of our school friends. His name's Mike Likerns."

"Okay. Look, we're going to find your sister's killer. I am so sorry."

"I don't think it's hit me yet." she said, "I'm not crying, but my parents and friends are sobbing. I feel heartless."

"I promise." Leena said. Then she called Ryan over. "Addison, this is Ryan Wolfe. He'll question you about your sister." then she turned to Ryan, "Treat her nicely."

"I will." he agreed. Leena left, intent on finding this poor girl's murderer.

**This case will turn into something more, I promise.**


	4. In Charge

Leena had searched Mike in the database, and found out he is eighteen, still in high school, and running an illegal fake ID shop in his apartment. _Of course, anybody who sells fake Ids are illegal, _she thought_, but still._

She walked up to his apartment door and heard loud music playing inside. There was also people laughing. She knocked on the door and then called out, "Miami-Dade Police." The music stopped immediately. There were a clinking of bottles and a rustling of a garbage bag. The laughing and talking stopped and the door creaked open. A guy who looked fifteen was standing there.

"Are you Mike Likerns?" Leena asked. He shook his head viciously.

"Likerns!" he called out, then looked at Leena. "Mike will be right here." he squeaked nervously, and scurried away from the door.

Another boy walked up, looking somewhat like the first with the same shaggy blond hair and brown eyes. "What can I do for ya?" he asked, speaking with a New York accent.

"Are _you _Mike Likerns?" she asked.

"What's it for?" he asked after nodding.

"Do you know this girl?" Leena held up Allison's picture.

"Uhh, yeah. She came to my house last month to… Hang out."

"To hang out, or to get a fake ID?" Leena asked, raising an eyebrow.

"That's Melinda Reese." he said, "Or that's what she told me."

Leena took out Allison's fake ID and showed it to Mike. "This is Allison Lucero. She turned up murdered on West Palm this morning. Her only possession was this fake ID." That was a little lie. The ID was next to her after all. But oh well.

"Oh." Mike said, "Look, I didn't have anything to do with Melin-Allison's death. As far as I know, she's Melinda Reese, the sophomore. I just gave her an ID is all, last month. And then I would see her in the halls three days out of five, and say 'Hey, Melinda.'."

Leena eyed him, "Alright. If we need anything else, we'll call. You might have to come into the lab later. Don't leave town." she threatened. Leena pointed inside his house, "Can I have a look around?"

"Sure." he sighed. Leena looked at all the teenagers, asked if they knew Melinda or Allison. They all said no. None of them even went to that high school. Leena looked at his tools to make Fake Ids, and everything else. Nothing significant came up, so she left soon. Leena went back to the lab to see Eric, who was talking to Calleigh.

"Delko!" she called out. He turned and frowned.

"Did you find anything?" he asked.

"No. But we gotta keep an eye on Mike Likerns." Leena said.

"I'll do that. You go and… Find something to do."

"Has Tom done the autopsy?"

"No, not yet. He wanted one of us to assist him. You go do that." Eric suddenly smirked. Leena left, and Calleigh turned.

"You wanna freak her out, huh?" Calleigh smiled.

"It's newbie hazing." he said, "But this one's not nearly sick enough. She's helping with autopsies for the next few murders."

Calleigh laughed and got back to work.

XXX

"Hey, Tom!" Leena greeted, "I'm here to help."

"Great. Not much to do with this one."

"Aww." Leena said, her smile faltering the slightest bit, "I was hoping for some gross, nasty autopsy."

"Really?"

"Yeah. I told you. I took anatomy. I've watched several autopsies."

"I'm sure Eric, the one who sent you, is disappointed."

"Oh, I bet. Newbie hazing is not nearly as much fun when the Newbie doesn't react."

"You've done it before?" Tom chuckled.

"Back in Arizona. We did it all the time to our Newbie team members, me and my friend Shay did."

"Alright, so to get working." Tom said, handing Leena a chart.

"Have you run a rape test?"

"Yes. It came back positive."

"Any semen to report?"

"Yes. I have already sent it to the lab."

"Life saver!" Leena chuckled, "Now, what about cause of death?"

"After I washed her off, I found that there were multiple stab wounds all over her body. Blade was four and a quarter inch wide."

"Four and a quarter." Leena muttered, writing it onto a clipboard.

"So you're level one?" Tom asked.

"I'm supposed to be moving up soon since I've been a CSI for more than a year and a half. But I think I have to wait till two and a half years here in Miami."

"Good luck with it."

"Thanks, Tom. You know, you and Ryan are pretty much the only nice ones around here." Leena said.

"Ryan's a good guy. He's been through a lot of trauma."

"Oh." was all Leena said.

"I think he likes you."

A clatter was heard, for Leena has ran into the tray of tools and knocks it to the ground. She crouched and began picking them up off the ground in a hurry. "Umm, no. Ryan doesn't like me."

"He has some sort of strong feelings for you."

"He doesn't."

"It's clear by the way he looks at you."

"I've been here two months and already I'm on the verge of breaking rules. I can't have an in-lab relationship."

Tom only shrugged and they got back to work.

XXX

"Cause of death was most definitely the stab wounds," Leena read the medical report to those on the case, "One punctured her heart, then her lungs, then a few of her other organs, and that was the end. There were signs of a struggle including bruising around her wrists where the murderer must have grabbed her and scratched on her face-" Leena was cut off.

"Wait," Eric said, "Did you just call the killer… A murderer?"

Leena raised an eyebrow, "Eric, that was very rude of you to interrupt my report for a petty issue. Please let me continue without interruptions from anyone." she said and went on, "So yes, there were signs of a struggle, and DNA under her fingernails. We saw her skull was fractured, so the murderer must have really had a fight with her. She probably hit her head on something during the attack or when he tackled her, something like that."

"What was the indentation shape?" Walter asked.

"Tom hasn't been able to determine that quite yet. But when he does, I'll have him tell you." Leena said, and smiled her charming smile. Walter didn't mean to smile back, but he definitely did.

"Thanks, Leena." he said.

"What about a rape kit?" Calleigh asked.

"Done, and rape turned out to be positive with traceable semen. Results on DNA should be coming back to me any moment. Also, the DNA under the fingernails should be too, and the results for whether the rape was done by the same person who is under Allison's nails. Now, have you guys questioned the family, the friends, the teachers? Anyone?"

"Yeah," Ryan said, "Addison said her twin was… Well, nothing special. She did a couple sports but never did anything to upset anyone. She didn't shine, she wasn't outstanding. Her friends said that as well."

"Her parents and teachers said no one would want to hurt her." Calleigh said.

"Well someone did." Leena sighed, "Did she have a job? One for after school? Anything?"

"She worked as a photographer for the newspaper. She took pictures, sold them, and that was it." Ryan said.

"Maybe she took a certain picture, and it upset someone." Eric said, "Maybe it was scandalous, something like that."

"Alright, yeah…" Leena nodded. Horatio came in and asked to have a word with Leena. "Of course, Horatio. Let's go out in the hall."

"Oh, it's something that can be said in front of everyone." Horatio smiled.

"Is it good or bad?"

"Good, very good."

"Alright then, go right ahead."

"Well, since you are handling this case so well, I think that I should hand it over to you. I want you to be in charge of it."

"Really!" Leena asked, smiling, "That would be fantastic."

"Now, it's a lot of responsibility. You handle what people do, what information gets processed, who gets interrogated. You're in charge of all of us."

"You're still doing the case?"

"Yes." Horatio nodded, "Now, do you want to do it?"

"Absolutely! Thank you so much, Horatio!"

"H, are you sure?" Eric asked, "She's only level one."

"Well actually, I would be a level two-" Leena said, but was cut off.

"Yes, Eric, I'm sure. Guys, we all report to Leena now. What are your next orders, Leena?" Horatio asked.

"Well, first, I need to find out those results…" she said. I'll be right back, I gotta go see if Natalia has them in the lab."

Leena walked out but bumped into Natalia right at the door. "Here's the girl I'm looking for!" Natalia laughed. Despite how mean Natalia looked, she was sort of nice to Leena.

"Thank you so much Natalia." Leena laughed as they walked back into the other room. Leena opened the results with everyone watching intensely. "Alright… So the semen and skin match, but the person they belong to is not in the database. Eric and Walter, you two go to the news place where Allison worked. Calleigh and Ryan, you two go visit her household and check her room for… Well, for anything. Whether it's a diary or a bag of weed, or a black hair or a chewed pencil. You bring it back here!"

"Yes, ma'am." Ryan smiled and he and Calleigh left at the same time Walter and Eric did.

"And Horatio and Natalia, you guys come to the crime scene with me." Leena said, and they headed out.

"Wha-what?" Natalia asked, lost for words.

"I'm in charge." Leena smiled proudly, "Isn't it great?"

"I let her lead the case." Horatio said.

"Oh. That's… Good for you." Natalia said.

XXX

They got to the crime scene and saw nothing but sand. They found nothing on, in or around the sand, and nothing but sand for a long ways beyond the crime scene.

"It's clear this isn't the original crime scene." Natalia said.

"But, Ms. Boa Vista, where _is_ the original crime scene?" Horatio asked. When they got back to the lab and walked into the break room to get some coffee, Leena's phone rang and she answered happily.

"Tom! Tell me you've got something… Yes! Thank you so much, Tom… Anything else?" she asked, "…Okay. Thanks, Tom. Goodbye."

"What'd Tom say?" Horatio asked as they packed their things up.

"Well," Leena started, putting her kit, which she still carried, on the table, "The skull indentation was flat… Like…" she picked up a foam coffee cup, and showed Horatio was round opening. She then proceeded to flatten it to make an edge. "Like that! Except spherical. But you get my point. I could explain it better if I had a soccer ball."

Horatio nodded and mused, "The killer either slammed Allison's head against something flat, or slammed something flat against her head then."

"It's not something you can mold with putty." Leena said, "It's flat. We gotta find the original crime scene."

"Call Ryan. I'll call Calleigh." Horatio said. Leena pulled out her phone and dialed his number. When he answered, he sounded discouraged.

"Hey, Leena."

"Aww, did you guys not find anything?" Leena asked.

"No, we found plenty. That doesn't mean any of it is good."

"What'd you find?"

"The window lock is broken, there are footprints and handprints on the long gutter pipe outside her window and the bushed beneath are flattened."

"So she was a sneaker." Leena said, "We gotta find out what she was doing while she was sneaking out. Keep looking for stuff. Find her cell phone, her laptop, her iPod, all her technology and get it over to Dave Benton. Get all her dirty clothes and get them to trace. Horatio, Natalia and I will be right over." she hung up and turned to Horatio, "We're going to the house."

**I apologize for not updating this in so, so long. I just lost interest in this story. But now with what I've got going, I'm going with it again. Hope you liked it! Stay tuned for the next chapter (which is beginning to be very hard to write). It's coming soon, I promise. I'm giving this story my full attention to make up for neglecting it.**


	5. Family, Friends and Enemies

They got to the house to be greeted with grieving friends and family members. Leena hated to ask them so many questions, but she had to. She sat them all in the living room with coffee, tea, water, whatever. The group was made up of about fourteen people-Allison's mother and father, Allison's twin sister Addison, Allison's four brothers, her aunt and uncle, and Allison's four closest friends.

"Alright. Now, don't be afraid to answer any questions, they are directed at all of you." Leena said. Natalia and Horatio were searching outside while Calleigh and Ryan expanded their search to the entire house. "So have you noticed Leena being gone the past few nights?" she asked, turning to the parents and siblings.

"Well Adam, Alex, Andy and Alan live in their own apartments, since they're grown." Allison's mother, Rhea, said, "We don't have an alarm or anything, so I guess it would be easier for her to sneak out."

"Rhea and I are both in the medical field," Allison's father, Victor, explained, "We have crazy hours. We have at least two twenty-four hour shifts a week, which are usually during the weekdays, then three or four twelve hour shifts. We always work at least eighty hours each week. It's very hard to keep track of where our children go when we're not home. We are usually not home very many nights."

"Have you been home the last few nights?"

"No, we weren't." he said, "We saw her all day yesterday, she was helping out around the house. We said goodbye to her and Addison at around seven thirty and then we left for the hospital."

"Did you check in with them at all?"

"No. We usually don't have time. We are very busy." Rhea said, muffling a sob.

"Addison, did you and Allison share a room?" Leena asked.

"No, but mine is right next to hers with paper thin walls. I can hear everything she does."

"So did she sneak out last night?"

"Yes. She does every night."

"Do you ever go with her?"

"Sometimes. But that's only when she's going to hang out with people I know."

"Did you go with her the night she died?"

Addison wiped a tear from her cheek, "Yes."

"Where did you two go?"

"A lot of places." she wept, her voice cracking, "I don't want to talk about it with them here."

"Let's go into the kitchen then."

"And, umm-" one of Allison's friends piped up, "We were there too."

"I didn't want to rat you guys out." Addison said.

"Well come along, all of you." Leena said, leading them through the detailed double doors and into the kitchen. They sat down at the table and Leena asked, "Where did you girls meet up, first of all?"

"We all walked over here and took one of their cars." one girl, Laura, said.

"Do any of you have your licenses?"

"I do, and so does Destiny." the girl in between Laura and Destiny-Caroline-said.

"So you were driving?" Leena asked Caroline. Caroline nodded and Leena continued to question her, "Were you designated driver?"

"Well, Destiny and I were. But do you mean that in the sense that we were the ones picked not to drink?"

"Yes."

"Then no… We still got really drunk."

"Did you drive while you were drunk?"

"A little. But not very far."

Then Leena asked one of the long awaited questions: "Where'd you guys go?"

"Well… First we went to a club in the city and we got pretty drunk, and met up with a few of our guy friends, and then they brought us down to the beach. They got us drunker at a bonfire and then one of them disappeared with Allison." the girl sitting to the right of Addison-Kelly-said.

"What about after the beach?"

"Well then they took us to their uncle's house. That was right by the beach. One of the guys disappeared with Allison in another room. We were all kind of busy because we were with our own guys and stuff…" Laura said, somewhat guilty.

"Did you hear anything from inside the room?"

"Well we were at the front of the house and they were at the back. And the music was pretty loud." Caroline said, "There was no way we could hear anything."

"Did you girls fall asleep there? Or did any of you go home during the night."

"We never went home. We woke up this morning, and tried to find Allison…" Destiny's voice failed, so Laura continued.

"And we couldn't find her in the whole house. We got our things and we walked along the beach, hoping that we would find her and then we could walk home. But we found her about a mile away from the house. And she was dead." Laura said, then broke into tears.

"So you hadn't seen her since about one thirty in the morning?"

"That's right." Addison nodded.

"Where were those guys when you woke up?"

"Passed out. So was the guy Allison was with."

"What was his name?"

"Archer Fox."

"Where were you thinking she had gone? Where would she have gone if she were to leave?"

"She would have just stayed. Or locked herself in the bathroom, something like that. We didn't know why she had gone off."

"Do you think it was the guy?"

"Well I don't think it wasn't the guy." Addison shrugged, "He's definitely not ruled out."

"Alright… So, Addison, have you two snuck out the past few nights?"

"She has, but last night was the first I did this week."

"Do you guys usually go to a club and the beach and everything."

"Well yeah. Usually these guys take us to their beach house or something. Last night was nothing new besides the fact that we met a couple people at the beach."

"Did any of them dislike Allison?" Leena asked, "Did any of them look at her or speak to her in a… In an off way?"

"A couple of them, but they were like, trying to seduce her." Kelly said.

"Do you think Archer would have gotten angry with her because of that? Did he have a reason to?"

"Well they just had flings. They were like friends with benefits. They got together every time we snuck out, but both of them dated and did stuff with other people. Archer never got jealous with any of the guys Allison was with." Kelly explained.

"So did anyone dislike Allison? Any of the girls at school? Anyone in the neighborhood?"

"No. She was an angel at school. She had a lot of responsibility. All the girls loved her. Everyone respected her. In school, she was like… Perfect."

"No girls had any problems?" Leena asked.

"No."

"Alright. How about guys?"

"Well a lot of guys wanted her but were too scared to ask."

"Was she intimidating?"

"She could be when she wanted. But never did she hurt anyone or embarrass them. She was honestly a good person."

Leena nodded, "Was she the sort of… Ringleader of your little group?"

"Not at all." Destiny said. They all looked at Destiny and she sighed, "I kind of am."

"Did Allison ever try to take over?"

"No. She was fine with her position."

"You never had any problems with Allison?"

"No!" Destiny almost shouted, "No, we all loved Allison!"

"Okay, okay." Leena said, "Umm… How about girls that Archer was dating at the same time as he had flings with Allison?"

"Well he never told us about any of them other than complaining. We don't know any of their names." Kelly said.

"An what about the guys Allison dated? Did they ever find out about Archer?"

"They all already knew when they got into a relationship with her. They didn't really care."

"Now what about Allison's job?"

"Well, we didn't know a lot about her job. Just that it was at the newspaper."

"Alright. I think we're done here. If I have any more questions, I'll get in touch with you. And if you have any information," Leena began to hand each of them one of her cards, "I'm always available. I'm serious, call me with anything."

"Thank you." they said.

"No, thank you." Leena said, "I swear I will find the one who killed Allison."

Leena talked to the others a little bit, but most of her information had come from the girls. Everyone else was done processing the house and met her outside when they were all ready to go.

"Find anything?" Leena asked them.

"Quite a bit." Ryan nodded.

"Did Delko or Walter call?" Leena asked. They all shook their heads, so Leena decided to call Walter.

"Hey, I was just about to call you." Walter answered, "We got a lot. We're going through all of her stories now in the lab."

"Okay. Thank you. Calleigh, Ryan and Natalia will be right over to help out. Horatio and I are going to Archer Fox's house." Leena said. She hung up and looked at them, "Did you hear that? Calleigh, Ryan and Natalia, you guys are going to the lab to help go through stories and stuff. Horatio, you're coming with me to Archer Fox's house. He was Allison's… Sort of boyfriend, I guess. Friends-with-benefits."

"Alright." Horatio said, "We'll see you back at the lab."

They got in the hummer as Leena looked Archer up in the database. She found out where he lived, and where the beach house was."

"First Archer's then the beach house. 4250 Magnolia." she told Horatio. At the first sight of the house, all was peaceful. It was a one-story house with an Acura parked on the curb and a Ford Ranger in the single car garage. A nice flower garden lay under the windows on either side of the front door and the rest of the front yard was covered in green-brown grass. Horatio and Leena walked up the stepping stones to the front door and knocked.

"Miami-Dade Police!" Leena shouted. The door opened to show a burly boy with black, messy hair in his early, early twenties. "Are you Archer Fox?"

"Please tell me I'm not under arrest."

"No, but we need to ask you a few questions."

"About what?"

"About Allison Lucero."

"Oh… Allison…"

"Allison is dead." Leena told him the story that the girls told her about the previous night. "Is all that true?"

"Yeah. We went into the room in the very back and just fooled around. Then around two in the morning she got really bored with me and left. I don't know why. She'd never done that before."

"Then when did you leave the house?"

"Early this morning so I could go to work. Then I didn't go back. I just went right back here and went to sleep."

"Do you live alone here?" Horatio asked.

"No. With my dad. But he's at work right now."

"So do you have anything to say you didn't kill Allison?"

"No."

"So, Archer. You were just having fun with Allison? Nothing serious?"

"Yeah."

"Did you have girlfriends at the same time as you would do things with Allison?"

"Yeah…" he said shamefully, "I would cheat on them, since that's what you're asking."

" Did any of your girlfriends know about Allison?"

"Only a few found out. They didn't really wanna get revenge though. They just dumped me or something. None of them were friends with Allison from the start, but everyone loved her. Even my girlfriends after we broke up."

"Can we have a list of all your girlfriends, please?"

"Sure." he said, writing down a list on a piece of paper Horatio gave him.

"Circle the ones with motive to kill." Leena said.

"Can we take a look in your house?" Horatio asked.

"Whatever." he sighed. They took a quick look, and found nothing. "Here's the list." he said, handing them the piece of paper.

"One last thing." Leena said, "Can we get a DNA sample?"

"Sure." he shrugged. She got it and then asked to see his hands. "I thought you said DNA was the last thing."

"Just let me see your hands." Leena demanded. He showed them to her and she saw numerous cuts and scratches-fresh. "That's all."

They asked him a few more questions and then left. "Don't go far." Horatio had said.

XXX

They proceeded to visit each girl on the list. Each of them had nothing against Allison, except the last one.

"Monica Lorise." Horatio said as they walked up to the door. He knocked on her front door and yelled out, "Miami-Dade Police!"

A red-headed teenager opened the door a minute later. Leena asked, "Are you Monica?"

"Yeah." she said.

"Can we ask you a couple questions about Allison Lucero?"

"I'd rather you not. We have issues."

"She's dead, Monica." Leena said sharply.

"…Oh… Then by all means." she welcomed them into her house.

"You live here alone?" Leena asked.

"No, with my sister."

"Alright, so what do you know about Allison?"

"I know my boyfriend cheated on my with her. That happened about a month ago. We haven't spoken to each other since. We used to talk every day in history, but then we stopped because of what she did."

"Did you stop talking to Archer too?"

"How do you… Oh, you visited him before me, huh?" Monica asked. Horatio and Leena didn't respond so Monica answered their question, "Yeah, I quit talking to him too. I was pissed at both of them."

"Alright. Were you mad enough to kill her?"

"Absolutely not!" Monica screamed, standing up abruptly and slamming her fist on the table.

"Calm down, Monica." Leena demanded. Monica sat down and looked at them stonily.

"How'd Allison die?"

"She was stabbed." Horatio said.

"Can we get some DNA?" Leena asked.

"Of course. Anything to rule me out, because I didn't kill her!" Monica said. They left soon after asking several questions.

"Monica and Archer both have motive. This is narrowing down pleasantly." Leena commented once they got back to the lab.

Eric updated them on their progress, "We've found several photos that Allison took that were… Not too nice."

"Alright. Can you give us a list of names please?" Leena asked. Walter handed them a printed list. "Where did Ryan, Natalia and Calleigh go off to?"

"Ryan went to trace, Natalia went to DNA analysis and Calleigh went to the AV lab. Where are you two off to?"

"Well, if you guys are done here, we can split this list."

"We're just about done." Walter nodded. They split the list up while Leena went up to drop the DNA samples off to Natalia.

"Call me as soon as you get the results. And check if Archer's matches the DNA from Allison's body, please."

"Will do." Natalia said.

"Thanks."

**This, for the record, was a very difficult chapter to write. Be grateful for the quality (if not bad) it turned out to be in.**


	6. Breaking the Case

"Fifteen people's houses and no one even knows who Allison is." Leena complained on their way back to the lab.

"Well a few of them knew. They just didn't remember too well." Horatio pointed out, "For all we know, they could be lying. That's why we took the DNA."

"You know, those were some pretty scandalous stories. People keep saying Allison is a good girl, but I guess they just don't know her work life." Leena said as her phone rang and she put it on speaker. "Natalia, give me good news."

"Archer's DNA matches the DNA that was on her body, and some of her dirty clothes."

"Too bad that doesn't prove anything… That could've happened when they were having sex the last few times Allison snuck out. Look, I know Walter and Eric are gonna go to the beach house soon to check it out, but I have to see it for myself. It just might be our original crime scene." Leena said, "1360 Oceanic Boulevard, Horatio."

The beach house was an eerie sight. Walter and Eric hadn't arrived yet. The house was completely empty as they checked each room. Finally, they got to the backroom. The backroom had obviously originally been a bedroom. There were two twin beds that had been pushed together and a matching wooden night table on either side. The desk in the corner had a hutch on top-a bookcase. The door to the armoire was wide open, but nothing was inside.

There had been a blood bath in that room. There was blood spattered on the walls, in pools on the floor, drops on the furniture. The room was a wreck. The pictures were crooked or knocked off the walls, papers were scattered on the floor and the bedspread was a mess. All the books previously on the bookcase were strewn all over the floor, covered in blood. Signs of struggle were everywhere.

Then there was the knife. It was lying on the ground next to one of the biggest pools of blood. A pile of clothes lay in the corner, soaked in blood. Leena supposed they were the clothes Allison wore the night she died. They had found her in just her bikini after all. Leena put gloves on right away and started looking for anything. Whether it was a cigarette butt, a broken glass or so much as a piece of jewelry, it would be collected by Leena.

She checked the bedding and found nothing. Then she looked inside the armoire and found something interesting. "Bingo. Horatio, come look at this."

She held up with her tweezers a bright blue contact. "Is this a contact?" Horatio asked.

"Indeed it is. I found it in the armoire. Did you notice anything about Monica Lorise's eyes?" Leena asked, "One was a sort of blue grey. Cold, like a rock. The other… The other one was this sky blue color that I hold in my fingers."

XXX

After they got the contact tested for her DNA, and then it came back positive, Eric and Walter offered to make the trip to their house.

They and gotten more DNA from the crime scene, and it all came back as Monica's, Archer's and Allison's.

Various hairs of the blonde, red and black variety and fingerprints matching the three teenagers' fingerprints.

When Leena got a call from Shay, she realized it was the next day.

"You said we would paint your house." Shay said.

"I'm sorry, Shay. I've been working this case for about forty hours and haven't even realized it. Does that mean nothing to you?" Leena asked as she poured herself another cup of coffee.

"Not really. When did you clock in?"

Leena counted back the hours, "…Oh my God, it's been like, fifty!"

"Holy shit." Shay laughed sarcastically, "Leena, get some sleep!"

"This case is about to close. I will not sleep." she said, eyeing the door as Ryan walked in, "I gotta go, Shay."

"Why?"

"Cause I said so."

"You owe me." she said.

"I'm about to break a case. I don't owe you anything because this is the most legitimate reason to miss something… Ever! Plus, you already owed for because of Johnny Omah in fourth grade."

"You've got an elephant's memory and it's annoying." Shay said, then hung up. Ryan stared at Leena with and amused expression. He nonchalantly sipped his coffee with a smirk on his face.

"What?" Leena asked, raising her eyebrows.

"Oh, nothing." he smiled.

"Oh, right!" Leena suddenly said, "I gotta go to the AV lab to see what Allison's stuff was all about. See you later."

"Uhh, bye." he said as the door shut.

XXX

"Hey, umm… Dave Benton, right?" Leena asked the AV guy on shift.

"That's right. You are Leena, the new girl." he stated, "Yeah, you broke a case your first shift. I can't say day because you all have been here for… How long?"

"About fifty hours." she laughed, "So what's on Allison's cell phone and computer?"

"Well on her cell phone," he pulled up on the screen multiple texts, "There were texts to and from Archer about Monica and how vicious she had gotten. There were angry texts from Monica, angry phone calls from Monica, angry voicemails from Monica," he pulled up one in particular of Monica yelling at Allison and calling her a bitch. "On her computer, the same things. Angry emails from Monica, Allison sent a few apologizing and asking Monica to quit sending her angry things, there are several IM conversations between Allison and Archer about Monica, and a few conversations between Monica and Allison. The same stuff over and over, you know?"

"Yeah. Did Monica ever threaten to kill Allison?"

"About forty-two times. I counted." he smiled cheekily.

"Thank you. I think we do have our killer." Leena said as her phone rang, "Hey, Delko, what's up?"

"Monica is holding Archer hostage at his house. Get there immediately, backup required. We're speeding over there right now."

"Okay." Leena said. She met Ryan and Horatio out in the hall and they took off toward the garage.

Once they got to the house, many police vehicles and stuff were already there. Eric and Walter pulled up at the same time as the other three. Calleigh was already there as well. Leena got out of the car and went over to Calleigh.

"What's the situation so far?"

"Well, Monica's saying she wants to tell us something, but not any of us. She has a gun to Archer's head and is saying she'll kill him unless… Well, unless the one who is in charge of the case gets here." Calleigh explained.

"Leena," Horatio appeared next to them, "Monica is demanding the person in charge go in. I'll go in for you-"

"No, I was to. I'm leading, and that comes with everything. I have to handle this." Leena said. The officers got her suited in a vest and she drew her gun and knocked on the door, "Monica, it's Leena. I'm in charge of the case."

"No tricks?" Monica asked from inside, "If it is, I'll shoot Archer!"

"No tricks, I swear." Leena promised.

"Alright… I'll unlock the door, but you have to wait ten seconds before you come in."

"Okay." There was a click on the door. Once she counted to ten, Leena turned the handle. She went inside and heard Monica tell her to close the door. She did and walked toward the kitchen, where Monica and Archer were. Archer had his hands tied together and he was gagged, and looked like he'd been beaten.

"I need to tell you something," Monica said, tears rolling down her face, "It was both of us. We both killed her."

"You both killed Allison?"

"Yes. Can I explain the whole story to you?"

"Of course."

"Umm… Well, Archer and I… We were dating and I learned that Allison had been sleeping with Archer for a long time. Even when Archer had a girlfriend or Allison had a boyfriend. I thought that was whorish, but since Archer was my boyfriend… I was only mad at Allison. I harassed her a lot. And then I told Archer he should help me get revenge on her, and he agreed. I don't know why he did. But we made a plan to get her into the backroom… So he did while I hid in the armoire. When I came out of it, she started panicking and we had to knock her out, so I slammed her head onto the floor. She stopped moving and looked dazed, and I felt happy. I guessed the wood floors had a big impact on her brain. So then, I watched as Archer had sex with her… And I guess he raped her cause she was really struggling and I had to gag her and hold her arms down. And after that, we redressed her and we were gonna let her go but then Archer said she would go to the cops… And I said she's too drunk to remember and he said she wasn't because she would see her wounds and remember!" Monica was sobbing now.

Shouts could be heard outside over her wheezing and tears.

She continued, "And I said that we should just kill her if she's gonna remember and we were both panicking, so I picked up the box cutter on the table and I stabbed her in the stomach like, eight times!" she sobbed, "And then she was dead, so we… We took her clothes off except her bikini and hid them in the corner, and we took her out about a mile off where nobody was, and we dumped her there! We just kicked her out of the car like a drop-off at the hospital, except she was dead!"

"So you both killed her?" Leena asked.

"He only raped her."

"He is an accessory to murder."

"What are you gonna do now?" Monica asked, not even caring that Leena was pointing her own gun at her.

"I'm gonna shoot him."

"Why?"

"I don't know!" Monica screamed, tears coating her face, "I'm freaking crazy! I'm insane, damn it! Why not kill another person? We're all going straight to Hell!"

"Monica, drop the gun, please."

"No!"

"If you shoot him, your life will be over. You will go to jail."

"I'll shoot myself too, then!" she cried, "I'll shoot him and kill myself!"

"Monica, please, you don't wanna do this."

"Wait, if I shoot him, you'll shoot me."

"No-"

"Yes! Shoot me, please!" she begged, "Shoot me or I'll shoot him!"

"Monica, drop the gun!"

"I don't are if I die! I want to die!"

"No, you want to live, Monica. Trust me, you want to live!"

"I'll live a crazy person's life! I'll always live with the burden of having killed Allison Lucero!" Monica screamed. A shot rang out, and almost immediately another shot. Doors slammed open from all sides and peopled ran into the room. SWAT people stormed in and saw two dead bodies on the floor.

They pushed Leena out of the way, kicked away the gun in Monica's lifeless hand and cleared the room. It was almost as if things were going in slow motion. Ryan came in and pulled Leena outside, where she broke down by the Hummer. Ryan opened the trunk and sat her on the edge. Then the speed of things went back to normal.

"I had to shoot someone." Leena sobbed, "I killed someone."

"You had to. She was a danger-"

"But, no. She shot him and I didn't have to shoot her. I feel so… Guilty…"

"It's fine. You reacted the way any of us would have. You reacted right." Ryan promised her. He held her hand and hugged her comfortingly.

"Ryan, I killed her." Leena whispered as Horatio came over.

"Leena," Horatio said, "Despite this, you did good today. This, unfortunately, ended this way. That's not your fault. You did the right thing though, and you cracked a case."

Leena only nodded and wiped tears from her face. Eric, Walter and Calleigh came over and clapped Leena's back in a way Leena couldn't tell. It was consoling, soothing. It made her feel like she'd done nothing wrong, even though she had.

"It's gonna be okay, Leena." Walter said, "You did good today. All of us would have reacted like you did. You did the right thing to do."

"Thanks." Leena said, drying her cheeks and hopping to her feet. "I gotta get back to the lab."

"No," Ryan said, "I'll drive you home. You need some sleep."

"Okay." she didn't put up an argument as he helped her get into the car. Actually, she hadn't been tired until now. And now she was very tired. She was falling asleep in the car. By the time they got to her house, Ryan had to wake her up to get the key, then she was still too tired to walk to he carried her in. He set her on the couch, covered her with an afghan and then locked the door on his way out.

"Bye, Ryan." Leena said after the door had already closed. She then fell into a peaceful, dreamless, log-like sleep.

**Did you see that coming? Good, cause I didn't either.**


	7. The Date

"So, Leena!" Ryan called to her a week later. She had been given two days off to catch up on lost sleep by Horatio. It was her fifth day back and no cases had gone on. She had stopped feeling guilty, hadn't had any nightmares and nothing was haunting her about the case. Right now, she was in the break room, getting coffee.

"Hey, Ryan. I haven't seen you around too much."

"Yeah, I haven't seen you much either." he said, "Where've you been?"

"Down in the cold case department. Horatio asked me to check if I can't find a case to solve. It's good work for now."

"Yeah, its been a little boring here. I feel useless now because I'm not as proactive as you." he laughed. Leena laughed too and touched his shoulder.

"You're not useless."

"So have you painted your house yet?" he asked.

"Yeah, I have. It's amazing, you should stop by and see."

"How about tonight? I'll take you to dinner, then we can go back to your house and I can look." he suggested.

"Well, that night ends up at my house. How about we start it at my house? I can cook you dinner."

"I feel some need to do something for you, since I offered in the first place." he said, "I started this whole date thing."

"Date?" Leena asked, caught off guard.

"Or-I mean, Uhh-" he stuttered, trying to make something up.

"No, it's alright. A date it cool." she nodded, "Don't worry. I cook amazingly. You just bring the wine."

He laughed, "Will do. Pinot Noir?"

"Well, there's a lot of things wrong with that. I don't drink red wine, I fear spilling any on my white couches, and I don't plan to make salmon, lamb or chicken."

"What do you plan on making?"

"Cajun seafood pasta." she said.

"Sounds delicious. Pinot Grigio?"

"Perfect." she nodded, "That sounds great."

"Alright, so I'll see you at about… Seven?"

"Sounds good! Let's hope we don't get another long case." she laughed as her phone rang, "Hey, Max… You have the results… Awesome, I owe you!" then turned to face Ryan, "I've gotta go."

"Alright. I'll see you later." he said. Leena nodded and took off.

XXX

Leena liked to sing, however bad she was at it. She liked t sing while cleaning. She liked to sing while cooking. She liked to sing in the shower. She liked to sing while getting ready. And she liked to sing while doing any of these things at the same time.

So she did. She turned her stereo on right when she got home from work at six thirty, jumped in the shower and then started dinner while a towel was still sitting atop her head, and wrapped around her body. She dried her hair at the same time as she simmered the sauce, her hand mirror perched expertly on her counter. She held a blow dryer in her left hand and was alternating between a medium sized round brush and a wooden spoon in her right.

Once she finished the sauce, she popped a lid on the saucepan and ran to the bedroom. She looked in her closet and found the right outfit-a black short sleeved scoop neck tee and a violet-blue taffeta shirt that hit above the knees. She did her makeup simply, with a little eyeliner, a little mascara no eyeshadow and a little coral lipstick. She had just enough time before Ryan got there to put everything on their plates and get the coffee table ready.

It was when the doorbell rang when she realized she wasn't wearing shoes.

Leena ran to her closet to get a pair, and then regretted her shoe fetish.

Yes, she had a shoe fetish. Not a sexual shoe fetish, but a regular shoe fetish. She had millions of shoes in her closet. They were all over the floor, all over the shelves and they spilled out. She had several shoe racks in her closet, hanging from the bar. They were filled with shoes. Leena's shoes were often mismatched. A Jimmy Choo boot with a Kate Spade sandal on one tier of the organizer, and their pairs would be on the floor or on the shelf.

Leena often couldn't find the shoes she wanted to wear, but that day she got lucky. She found the exact shoes she was looking for-black Dior Muse peep toe ankle boots. They had layers of scalloped edges and a bow tie on the front for decoration. She hopped as she put them on and zipped them up, going to the door.

She opened the door and smiled at Ryan, who was holding the expensive bottle of white wine. "Hey!" she greeted him, smiling broadly.

"Hey," he said, "You look beautiful."

Leena blushed and smiled at him, "You look pretty nice yourself. Here, let me take that." she offered, reaching for the bottle of wine. She went and set it on the table, then invited him in.

He walked in, observing the furnishings of her living room. The house had very light brown, grayish, wooden flooring. The walls were painted grey-blue color and had a couple photographs of people he assumes were friends and family. There was a flat woven rug on the ground with a white wooden coffee table, a white couch and a few white armchairs. They had pillows atop them that had patterns matching the room. On one side of the room was a massive white, wooden bookcase. It had all sorts of things on it ranging from art to music to books to pictures to vases of flowers. Above it was a matching wooden bringing-shelf that had colorful pottery of many shapes lining it.

Everything in the room showed Leena's artistic side. The pottery, there were paintings on the walls. The way the whole décor evolved around art was spectacular. There were spots of colors all over. A colorful red afghan on the couch. A vase of orange African Daisies. A bright blue pillow popping out. It was so subtle yet so impressive. It was breathtaking at the same time simple. It showed a lot about Leena. What she liked. Her taste in music, her taste in literature, her taste in art. She was displayed before him like an open book.

He walked into her kitchen, which was adjoining with the living room. There were no walls separating the two rooms, no doors. A large table started the kitchen. It doubled as an island and as a kitchen table. Several chairs were seated around it and ingredients covered a portion of it. Black pendant lamps hung over it from the ceiling. All the cabinets were white and the ones revealing china and wine glasses at transparent glass doors. New appliances pulled the room together. It wasn't as artsy, but it still looked culinary.

"You have a fantastic house." Ryan complimented as Leena served dinner up.

"Thank you," she said, "You'll find my cooking is more than fantastic."

"I'm sure I will." he laughed. They sat down for dinner and began to talk. "So what is your technical role at the lab?"

"My _technical_ role is CSI level one, arts and cultural expert. I see myself as a level one and a half though." she laughed.

Ryan laughed too and nodded, "You'll probably move up soon."

"I hope. In Arizona I would've been moved up by now. Miami is so different."

"Where'd you grow up? Phoenix?"

"Flagstaff. In a traditional artsy family. I made all of those up there." she said, pointing to the pottery on the shelf.

Ryan's eyes widened, "That's impressive. They are very nice. You've got a real talent there."

"Thanks. I could have made money off of just making pottery, but that's sort of what my parents did my whole life. That and they ran a Hopi Indian reservation. Even though my mom isn't Indian."

"Really?" Ryan asked, truly interested, "Is she… Mexican?"

"No, that's my dad-and Hopi on his side. My mom is strictly Asian. She could pass for Hopi though."

"You grew up on an Indian Reservation? That sounds exciting."

"Well I practically grew up there. I worked at the reservation when I wasn't partying or in school or something."

"Where'd you go to school?"

"First NAU, then I went out of state to Ashford."

"Wow, aren't you smart?" he smiled.

"I absolutely am." she nodded, "Enough about me. You, you, where do you come from?"

"Boston. I grew up there."

"But no accent?" Leena questioned.

He shook his head, "No accent."

"Any brothers or sisters?"

"None. You?" he asked.

"An older and a younger brother, and a younger sister. But we aren't talking about me." she declared, "We're talking about you. So what about your parents?"

"They weren't around much, always at their jobs. I had a nanny."

"No!" Leena exclaimed disbelievingly, "I never would have guessed. Your nanny raised you correctly!"

He chuckled, "Thank you." They made made conversation and then finished dinner, and Ryan suggested, "How about I see that wall now?"

"Oh, right!" she nodded, wiping her mouth with a napkin. "Yeah, let's go!" She stood up and led him to a door on the right. Before she opened it, she said, "Now, it's nowhere near finished. I've only done a little bit of the outlines for it so far." She opened the door and led him inside the room.

He observed the room before the walls. The floor was the same light wood. The wall opposite the door was mainly windows, which were enclosed in ash white curtains. The little wall space between the two large windows was occupied by a tall, slim bookcase covered in books. A bed frame that matched the bookcase with a white stained oak color was up against the same wall as the door and a matching nightstand lay next to it with a couple pictures and a metal white lamp.

The walls were really something. The two walls with no furniture were being used. The one on the right was still an outline of a slightly snowy mountain scene in the background of some detailed buildings. The wall opposite that had two scenes. One was an outline of a lighthouse and an ocean scene. The other outline was that of a rocky shoreline. Waves were crashing onto the sand, a cliff looked over the ocean and in the distance were several homes and a lighthouse-the same one in the other picture, Ryan assumed.

"These are so fantastic!"

"Thank you," Leena said bashfully.

"Are they specific places?"

"Yeah, this one," she pointed to the mountains, "Is downtown Flagstaff. It's practically where I lived. The mountains over them are the ones I hiked the most often."

"With snow?" Ryan inquired.

"Winter was my favorite season in Flagstaff. And the other one is a lighthouse in Australia. The Clarence River Lighthouse in Yamba, New South Wales, Australia."

"You've been?"

"Yeah, once on a vacation when I was a teenager. I loved it so much, I decided to live there when I grew up. That didn't really work out." she rolled her eyes, "I already drew the finished works on a piece of paper if you wanna see?"

"Of course." Ryan said. Leena walked over to her nightstand and pulled out a piece of paper. On the front was the Flagstaff scene as what he assumed to be sunrise from at blues, pinks and purples in the sky. Snow topped the buildings and peaks of the mountains. A couple leafless trees were behind the buildings.

"I used to sit in different places to try to map out this picture and was so proud of myself when I did it." Leena noted. Ryan turned over the paper. The close up lighthouse scene also seemed to be at dawn or after sunset from the darkness of the picture. The sky was a purplish blue and looked cloudy. The other scene was in midday he supposed and very sunny out. The green of the grass and trees stood out against the beige sand and the dark, frothy water.

"And I actually drew these two all those years ago when I was in Australia. I've had this planned out forever."

"Wow. How many years ago was that?"

"Ten or eleven." she answered, "A very long time ago."

"So you were, what, seventeen?" he asked.

"No. Sixteen. How'd you determine that I'm twenty-seven?"

"Well I know you went to school for eight years so I know you're at least twenty-five. Then I assume you didn't jump from newbie to level two in a year. I assumed two years."

"Actually, I graduated from Ashford at twenty-four. I graduated high school when I was turning on seventeen, went straight to Northern Arizona, graduated at twenty and then went straight to Ashford. Ta-dah! Twenty-four, plus two years working. I'm twenty-six."

"Wow, you graduated high school early."

"I was put in early. The school board was really itching to hold me back so I could be with people my age, but my parents said since I understood everything, what's the trouble?" she shrugged, "But I was the only one in my senior year who wasn't driving."

"But you were sixteen, right?"

"Everyone else usually got their licenses at seventeen, so I wasn't even driving when I got to NAU. Good thing I lived on campus."

Then he noticed something odd about her bed, "Where's your mattress?"

Leena laughed, "I haven't got one yet. I haven't slept in my room since I moved in. I have made a plan not to use this room until I finish the walls. I use it to keep my clothes in, and I haven't even unpacked them yet." she said, pointing to several clusters of boxes all over the room with colorful cloth poking out. "And my shoe closet is ridiculous."

"You unpacked your shoes but not your clothes?"

"Yeah." she replied, "Wanna see? They're all mismatched. It's ridiculous."

"I have OCD. If I see I'll get an overwhelming feeling to reorganize your closet." Ryan objected.

Leena challenged him, "I'd like to see you try."

"Me too. Another time, maybe?"

Leena smiled, "A time just dedicated to you organizing my shoes? I'm all for it, but you'd be so disappointed in my untidiness."

Ryan shrugged, "It's worth it to see you."

**Oh, yeah, that was so adorable. But honestly, you've got no idea how hard this chapter was for me to write. First the awkward small talk in the lounge. Then the first date talk, the getting to know each other. Sorry for how boring this chapter utterly was, but I had to get this out of the way. You should just be happy it's another chapter! Plus, you got a look inside Leena's, house, the kind of artsy person she is. All that good stuff. Thank me, in reviews please, not cash… Although I would probably take your money.**


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